For many of us, we believe that our past = our future. We often carry a subconscious belief that no matter what we do, things will always be just more of the same.

Even as we grow older, there’s a tendency to replay just slightly different versions of the same year over and over again. But, as Robin Sharma said, we want to catch ourselves in the act of this craziness and, “don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.”

So, how do we actually break the mold and change the course and direction of our lives if we want to? How do we change our experience of life as a whole, and live a life of more health, happiness, and fulfillment? Well, as you’ll discover today, it all intrinsically happens when you alter what’s happening inside of you, not outside of you. When you learn how to alter your traits, you learn how to live an altered reality.

I love the quote from Marianne Williamson that says, “With confidence, you can reach truly amazing heights; without confidence, even the simplest accomplishments are beyond your grasp.”

How much does confidence really play into our lives? Well, if we take a step back we can see that confidence plays a major role in ALL of the decisions we make. Humans don’t act without an underlying sense of confidence. We have confidence in simple things like our ability to walk out our front door and successfully make it to our job. And we have confidence in bigger things like telling someone you love them for the first time, choosing the right college to attend, or going after the dream career we really want. How much confidence we carry will decide how strongly we approach all these things, or even if we decide do them at all!

I remember watching a lecture from Dr. Bruce Lipton along with my wife and mother-in-law many years ago. After it was over, I saw the tears rolling down my mother-in-laws face as she was overwhelmed with emotion.

You see, she had been helping people from all walks of life to better themselves mind, body, and spirit for decades. I’d never meet anyone who was as loved and admired as her before, and I was always intrigued by the love that came from everyone’s mouth when they spoke of her.

She endured so much that most people never saw… and all that she went through enabled her to give at a level most people never experienced until they meet her. And, during that lecture from Dr. Lipton, she realized that what she believed all along was true… If you can help people to heal their minds and beliefs, you can help them to heal their bodies. The solution was always inside. That’s how she was able to help herself, and that’s how she was able to help so many others (myself included).

Scientist believe that approximately 50 percent of our happiness is genetically predetermined, while 10 percent is due to life circumstances, and 40 percent is the result of our own personal outlook. Whether or not you believe in genetic determinism, none of us can argue that our personal outlook (and in many ways our life circumstances) are within the power of our own hands to change.

Why, then, is happiness at a deficit today? With so much connection and so much opportunity, why has happiness become the exception and not the rule? There’s a relatively new field of science focusing on positive psychology and the underpinnings of what creates happiness from us. But nothing compares to the education that we get from someone who’s cracked the code on happiness personally. It’s the stories of success that really speak to hearts, and it’s the real world tools that help us to put what we learn into action.

Today you’re going to hear one of the most outstanding stories of how we can achieve happiness and success no matter what our circumstances have looked like. This person is an absolute superstar in so many different domains of personal development. She’s so good at it because she has been through it. I mean, really through it. And by braving her path, she’s figured out a thing or 20 that’s going to make an impact on your life for many years to come. Grateful, honored, and excited to share with you the incredible Lisa Nichols. Enjoy!

You can gain just as much weight eating gluten-free cupcakes as you do eating gluten-filled cupcakes.

We don’t want the latest marketing trend to be the demise of your health and fitness goals. Though many gluten-free efforts mean well, as with anything, marketers can really mess things up. They’ll take a good wholesome idea and you turn it into a tactic.

Gluten-free options came into play to enable folks with gluten sensitivities to still enjoy some of their favorite comfort foods. Then more gluten-free options hit the market to meet the demand of people finding out the big potential downsides of eating gluten. The next thing you know there’s a gluten-free label slapped on everything from soups, to salads, to potato chips, and pizza. I think I even saw someone sipping a gluten-free bottle of water the other day.

Shawn Stevenson is a bestselling author and creator of The Model Health Show, featured as the #1 Health podcast on iTunes with millions of listener downloads each year. A graduate of The University of Missouri - St. Louis, Shawn studied business, biology, and kinesiology, and went on to be the founder of Advanced Integrative Health Alliance, a company that provides wellness services for individuals and organizations worldwide. Shawn has been featured in Entrepreneur magazine, Men's Health magazine, ESPN, FOX News, and many other major media outlets. He is also a frequent keynote speaker for numerous organizations, universities, and conferences. Click here to learn more about Shawn